According to a recent Fox Business report, Tom Emmer, a United States Representative from Minnesota, along with 49 original co-sponsors have reintroduced a CBDC Bill called the “CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act”, labeling it a surveillance tool that would “undermine the American way of life.”
On September 12, Emmer revived the Republican-backed CBDC Bill that aims to prevent the Federal Reserve and its member banks from issuing a digital version of the dollar and using it to implement monetary policy in an effort to protect Americans’ right to financial privacy.
🚨Today, with 49 of my Republican colleagues, I reintroduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act👇https://t.co/mbke95IHBn
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) September 12, 2023
Yet Another Anti-CBDC Bill
According to reports, the CBDC Bill would specifically prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC to individuals which Emmer claimed would help the US government to collect personal financial data. Additionally, it will also bar the central bank from using any CBDC to implement monetary policy against cryptocurrencies.
While presenting the bill, Emmer blasted the Biden administration, noting, that the US government is willing to compromise the American people’s right to financial privacy for a surveillance-style CBDC. He added,
“That’s why I’m reintroducing my landmark legislation (CBDC Bill) to put a check on unelected bureaucrats and ensure the United States’ digital currency policy upholds our values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free-market competitiveness.”
Furthermore, the congressman who had first introduced the bill to address CBDCs in January 2022, emphasized the importance of the legislation and the CBDC Bill in curbing the power of unelected bureaucrats, ensuring that US digital currency policy upholds values such as privacy, individual sovereignty, and free-market competitiveness.
US Lawmakers Protest Against CBDC
This is not the first time an anti-BDC bill has made negative rounds. Several lawmakers previously expressed strong dissatisfaction, highlighting the potential risks and challenges associated with the introduction of CBDCs.
Earlier this year, United States Congressman Warren Davidson took a firm stance against CBDCs. He called not only for their complete ban but also for the criminalization of any effort to design, build, test, develop, or establish any sort of central bank to back digital currency.
The claim that FedNow is not the first step toward a CBDC would be more easily digestible were we not aware of the Biden administration’s steady barrage of hostile broadsides against cryptocurrencies.
Between 2008-22, the Fed partnered with a handful of big banks to print $10…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 10, 2023
Recently, US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. also slammed CBDCs, putting forward a proposal in March to outlaw the use of CBDCs as money in his state. In May, Rep. Alex Mooney of West Virginia introduced the “Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act”, which aims to prevent the Fed from launching a pilot program that would test the operability of a CBDC in the U.S. financial system.
Ugly Side of Government-Backed Digital Tokens
Numerous other lawmakers including Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Mike Lee and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have floated similar bills that would ban CBDCs in the U.S.
My bill protects Americans from a similar intrusion by prohibiting the Federal Reserve or any federal government agency from minting or issuing a CBDC, whether through a direct-to-consumer or intermediated model.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) March 24, 2023
The growing momentum behind central bank digital currencies all around the world is alarming due to the severe risks posed to individual privacy and increased government oversight over monetary exchanges between individuals and businesses.
It should be noted that CBDCs have the potential to strip individuals of their right to financial privacy as every transaction can be monitored and scrutinized, leaving no room for financial autonomy. CBDCs would give banks a detailed picture of every financial transaction, endangering individuals’ privacy and potentially leading to widespread surveillance.
In a nutshell, these government-backed digital currencies would give authorities unchecked and unaccountable power over the lives of its citizens on a scale never seen before.
